“Constructionists believe that deep, substantive learning and ‘enduring understandings’ occur when people are actively creating artifacts in the real world.”

Constructionist learning theory has evolved from constructivist theories of learning that, as mentioned, recognize that learning is an active process in which learners construct mental models and theories of the world in which they live. Constructionists believe that deep, substantive learning and ‘enduring understandings’ occur when people are actively creating artifacts in the real world. Read more…

“Constructionism, a theory pioneered by Seymour Papert of the MIT Media Lab, holds that children learn best when they are in the active role of the designer and constructor. But the theory goes a step further. Constructionism, Papert says, adds “is the idea that this happens especially felicitously in a context where the learner is consciously engaged in constructing a public entity, whether it’s a sand castle on the beach or a theory of the universe.”

“But it is not only in the constructing of something that leaning becomes truly meaningful for the learner. That creation process and the end product must be shared with others in order for the full effects of Constructionist learning to take root. We all have times when we need to explain something we know to someone else. To do this, we may have to bone up on the subject, talk with others, draw diagrams. In this process, we learn our subject well because we have to think hard about it and think of the best ways to convey it to others. It is through this creation of an object — … it could be a website or computer program — that is shared with others and becomes what Papert calls a “public entity” that Constructionist learning is so powerfully reinforced.”